Remember
by 4getregret
Summary: The life of Pokemon in the Pokemon World is not what you think it is. Prepare for the flip side. A Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fic.
1. I: Chapter One

**A/N:** It's been awhile, but 4getregret's back, and with an all new story! I'm not sure if this one will get far, but I sure am hoping it will! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

_All lives have a beginning and an end. It is never up to us to decide when that end shall come. Therefore, you must always cherish that which is most important to you, for you never know when that time may come. Most believe that the memories of their most beloved or greatest times are the most important things in their lives. We're just about to see how important those memories are._

_**Remember…**_

"_Nii-san…"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_Would you tell me that story again? You know, the one that you always told me when I was a lot younger?"_

"_Ah. You're talking about the one about the island of dreams?"_

"_That's the one! I always loved it, especially when you were the one who told it to me."_

"_Heh, but who else knows that story?"_

"_I just liked hearing you say it. That's all!"_

"_Hmm… ok, I suppose I could recite it again this one time…"_

"_Yay!"_

"_This story begins on a faraway island, one that isn't even listed on our maps. It tells about the mysterious tale of a brother and sister, and their two beautiful parents…"_

**Chapter One**

The bright red sign dimmed as a male Pikachu stepped out of the room onto a tile surface through a sliding metal door. He had a light blue outfit on, as well as scrubs and a mask, which he was now taking off. He sighed, after being in there for so long. A small Eevee ran up to him, tears in her eyes from stress. "Please, doctor, tell me; will my brother be alright?" The Pikachu calmly stared at the Eevee.

"The operation was a success," he stated. "A few weeks in a rehabilitation room, and he'll be able to come home with you again." The brown fox like Pokemon smiled in gratitude, and tears of joy began to pour from her eyes.

"Thank you, Doctor Starla!" She said as the Pikachu walked out of the hallway. As the door closed behind him, he walked into yet another room; this one considerably smaller. He took off his blue gown-like uniform, and sat on a small chair. _Man, operating on such short notice is a pain… when the patient's life hangs on a thread, you have to be ready to do anything… _

He sighed, and then stood up, walking over to a locker with the words "Kyle Starla" printed on it in large, bold letters. He opened it up and took out a white shirt with a black cloak. While putting the articles of clothing on, the electric mouse looked out of a window on the west side of the room, and watched as orange leaves fell off a few trees. He saw the bright pink sunset behind the scene. _Huh… Autumn already?_

He put a black top hat on his head, but it was slightly to the side so that one of his ears was sticking out. _I wonder how Kristal's doing…_

* * *

"_A voice cries out in the forest night…_"

A young Treecko picked off a few apples from a tree she was standing underneath. She was surrounded by many similar trees, and it appeared as if she was resting. She continued to sing the lullaby that she could never get out of her head.

"_Hush little one, it will be alright…_"

She leaned down and put the bright red fruit into a light brown basket. She picked up the basket and slung it over her shoulder, and began to walk across the forest. She soon came to a clearing, where there were a few trees surrounding it with oranges in them.

"Ah, Kyle loves oranges!" She thought out loud, while picking a couple oranges and adding them to her basket. A strong gust soon blew by, and her brown coat puffed a little and fluttered behind her in the wind. She then closed her basket, and looked up at the sky, seeing that the sun was beginning to set. _Hmm… I should start going home._

As she began to depart, something caught her eye. "What…?"

* * *

"Ah, Starla-sensei," A bright eyed Kirlia said to the Pikachu, who was passing by in a hallway. She had a bright blue uniform on like the one Kyle had on previously, and also had a small pink bow in her hair.

"No need to be so formal, Gina," The Pikachu said, who had ceased walking after the mention of his name. "We are almost at the same position, after all. Please, just call me Kyle." The Kirlia who had been addressed as Gina gave a small giggle.

"Whatever you say, Kyle," Gina said, trying to suppress her laughter. They began walking again, and in the same direction. "So, how did the operation go?" She asked after a brief silence. "It must have been difficult to operate on such a short notice!"

"It was more difficult than normal," Kyle admitted. "But the operation was still a success. If you ever want to be a great doctor, you have to be able to operate at anytime, no matter what the circumstances are." They soon reached the front area of the hospital. A Wartortle sat in a chair at a desk in front of a door which led outside. He seemed to be writing something on a notebook. Perhaps it was the results of one of the operations that day. "You remember about our operation planned tomorrow on the Meowth, right?" Kyle asked. Gina smiled.

"Heart blockage. Eighty percent of a major artery is blocked. Scheduled tomorrow at approximately three PM. We will be doing a bypass surgery. Patient is Kojima Katawa. How could I forget?" She asked, grinning even wider. Kyle smirked back.

"Just making sure. See you two hours beforehand for preparation," he said, walking out the front door and into the slightly colder outdoors, leaving the two story building behind him. A red cross was just above the front door's awning, and above that in bright red were the words "Rendar Hospital". Rendar, of course, was the name of the city.

Gina opened her mouth as to say something, but the Pikachu was already gone. _Damn! You're too slow again, Gina! Wait too long, and someone else is bound to pick him up…_ She leaned against a wall, still looking at the see-through door. _It's only natural, though… _She sighed, and began walking down the hallway they had come from.

_She's a nice kid…_ Kyle thought, looking back at the hospital he had exited. He walked on a pathway surrounded by tall trees, whose leaves were turning into different shades of orange, red, and yellow. A few of the leaves fell off as the Pikachu slowly proceeded towards his residence.

A small gust blew by, and something rattled around Kyle's neck. He ceased walking momentarily. He looked down at his chest at the cross-shaped necklace that dangled from a thin chain around his neck. He clutched the necklace, and held it even closer over his chest. He closed his eyes, and could almost feel that he was somewhere else, perhaps not even somewhere on that planet…

"Ridiculous," he muttered, letting the necklace fall back into place over his chest. He opened his eyes and continued walking. _After all, that time has not come yet. We'll just have to see what the future has to offer. Hmm… I wonder if Kristal has gotten home yet._

* * *

…_Shouldn't I be dead? I mean… I was starving, and I had been traveling for days… I also had a bad wound in my arm, so I could've died from loss of blood… I hear a voice… I wonder who it is…?_

The Treecko bent over a river, taking a cloth and letting it absorb the rushing water. Her basket laid to the side of her. She soon got up and walked over to what looked like a light brown monkey. He had bandages wrapped around his left arm, and was sleeping soundly underneath a large apple tree nearby. He also had slightly torn shorts and a white shirt on.

The Treecko put the cloth on the Chimchar's head and began to walk back to her basket when she heard the monkey-like Pokemon grunt softy. She turned around, and realized that his eyes were beginning to open. She stood over him, smiling slightly. A leaf from the tree he was lying under came down and gently landed on his nose. The Chimchar brushed out of the way silently, and looked up at the Treecko standing above him.

"…Who are you?" He asked, his voice struggling to get the words out. It was obvious that he hadn't had anything to drink in the past few days, as when he was able to speak, his voice cracked slightly. The Treecko handed him a small wooden bowl filled to the rim with water. He drank greedily.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" The Treecko asked, smiling slightly. The Chimchar stopped drinking momentarily. The Treecko set down her light brown, fluffy coat, and underneath was a white shirt. She also had navy blue pants on. She leaned underneath the tree next to the Chimchar, and sighed. "I'm Kristal. Kristal Starla."

"Harver Rose," the Chimchar said more freely, setting the bowl down. It was now less than half full. He looked down at his left arm, realizing that it was covered. "Did you…"

"I applied emergency first aid," Kristal said, handing Harver an apple. She took another one out of her basket and took a bite out of it. After she had swallowed, she continued. "You had lost quite a bit of blood, but I didn't have any spare for a transfusion. Also, I had no idea what blood type you are. So, I simply made a quick laceration of the long scar on your left arm, and patched up any of the rest of your injuries.

"No bones were broken, luckily. You didn't have a fever either, but I just wanted to be careful."

"Wow, you sure know a lot about the medical business," Harver said, eating his apple. Kristal smirked.

"Well, it sure helps that my brother is a doctor," she said, setting her apple down. "He works at the hospital in town. Whenever he's going over an operation to perform the next day, he always reads the problem out loud to himself and goes over the possible procedures. He occasionally tells me about how to perform surgeries, and he also went over how to perform first aid on someone."

Harver smiled gratefully, setting his half-eaten apple down as well. "Well, then I suppose I'm very lucky that you were passing by."

"Which reminds me," Kristal said, sitting up straight. "What were you doing that got you so scratched up?" Harver's smile turned into a face of surprise, and then he frowned. "I mean, those weren't normal tree branch scratches. And that long scar across your arm; you obviously got into some trouble."

"Well, you have that right," Harver said, bringing his legs closer to his body. "The truth is, I was just passing through."

"Passing through?"

"Yeah. You see, I went through this forest heading to the town. I don't live there, or anything, but I thought it would be a good place to start out."

"Start out?" Kristal inquired, becoming very interested. "Don't you have a family?" Harver shook his head.

"No parents. I did live with my grandfather for awhile, but he's been getting really old lately, so it's hard for him to pay for both of us. So, I set out on a journey. I stopped on my way out of my village to ask a kind old lady for directions to your town, since I heard it's very peaceful and quite easy to make a living in, and she told me two ways to get there.

"One was by a long road around the forest, and she said it was about a four day trip. The other was only a one day trip, and it was through the forest. She said it was a very dangerous way to go through, though. But since I didn't have enough supplies to last me through four days, I decided to go through the forest. After all, I did know how to fight relatively well.

"Unfortunately, I was ambushed by four wild Pokemon far more experienced than me. They caught me by surprise, and I was forced to run for it. While I ran away, a Beedrill shot many small needles at me. It must have been Pin Missile. I dodged most of them, but a fairly large one hit me. That must have been what got my arm so badly scarred.

"It gave up the chase after that, though. After walking for a few more hours, I felt as if all of my strength had been sapped away. I closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up here." Kristal nodded, and then looked up at the sky, which was now getting darker.

"Sounds like you've had a rough day," She said, smiling. Harver grinned, and then stretched, trying to get most of his muscles working again.

"Well, it comes with the job," he said. Kristal then looked like she was confused.

"What job?"

"The job of living," he said, smiling even larger. Kristal relaxed, and then grabbed her basket and stood up.

"What do you say about this," The Treecko started, giving Harver a hand to help him stand up. Harver grabbed the hand thankfully, and slowly got to his feet. After wobbling for a little bit, he regained his balance and could walk again. "Since you don't have any place to sleep for the night, you can stay with my brother and I."

"Really?" Harver asked, smiling. "Are you sure your brother won't mind?" Kristal scoffed.

"He won't care," She said promisingly, and they began to walk through the forest. "And if he does, I'll persuade him."


	2. II: Chapter Two

_"And the two parents loved their kids very much, and loved each other even more."_

"_How much did they love each other, nii-san?"_

"_They loved each other so much, they would be willing to die for each other."_

"_Wow… they sure do love each other!"_

"_Yes, they do…"_

**Chapter Two**

Kyle sat in a chair at a table in his house, sipping a cup of tea. His black top hat sat on top of his head, with the black tip of one of his ears just sticking out. In front of him was a small plate with a few crumbs on it. He had just finished his dinner, but was slightly worried. He looked outside of a window which gave a view to just outside the front of the house.

Inside the house was a table with four chairs (in case any guests came over) and an oven to the side of it. There was also a sink in that room. Across from that room was another room with a couch and another chair, but this one was made of softer material. It was clear that it was a relaxing room. There was a hallway in between the two rooms that led to the bathroom, and three other doors. Two of them were Kyle and Kristal's bedrooms, while the last one led to a guest room.

It was fairly dark outside, and the first of the stars began to make their appearance in the nighttime sky. The moon crept out just above the forest, and two figures made their way out of the dense, tree-filled area.

Kyle recognized one of the figures as Kristal, but he couldn't determine who the other Pokemon was. He slowly got up, and went to a small coat rack which had his black jacket on it. He removed his hat and placed it on the rack. He opened the front door, and a small gust of air slightly ruffled his white shirt. He saw that Kristal was accompanying a red, monkey-like Pokemon of about her age. He crossed his arms as they arrived. "You're late," he said matter-of-factly.

"Sorry, brother," Kristal said, as Harver stared at the two. _…Brother?! _"I found this boy in the forest. He was hurt badly, and doesn't have a place to stay. Could he stay here for the night? We do have a spare room." Kyle kept his arms folded.

"You know the rules," He said, not budging an inch. "No one is allowed in the house unless we both agree on it." Kristal looked at him with sparkling eyes. Kyle grinned. "Of course, I could allow it this one time…" Kristal ran up and hugged him.

"Yay! Thank you, brother!" She said, as Kyle struggled to get away from her choking embrace.

"Yes, thank you very much," Harver said, bowing slightly. "I'll try not to be a burden." Kyle was finally able to get away from Kristal's hug.

"You said, however, that he had a few injuries?" Kyle asked Kristal. She nodded. "Then I want to see it that the wounds get completely healed. After that, he has to leave, be it one week or one month." Kristal entered the house while Kyle returned his attention the Chimchar. "What's your name?"

"Harver Rose, sir."

"How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen," he said while Kyle pondered this. _That would be about eight years ago for me, when I first started working…_

"Did you have any intentions of getting a job?"

"Yes."

"See to it, then. Also, there's the case of rent," Kyle said. "Whatever you do for a job, you'll have to pay us some of the amount. How does ten percent sound?" Harver smiled.

"That would be great," the Chimchar said, bowing again. Kyle smirked, and then went inside. Harver followed.

"Kristal!" Kyle called to the green, lizard-like Pokemon, who was busy setting her basket down on a counter in the kitchen area. "Prepare dinner for you and Harver while I set up his area in the Guest Room." He began to walk in that direction.

"Thank you again," Harver said, smiling. He then walked over to Kristal, who seemed to be chopping up a few vegetables on the counter. "He's your brother?"

"Yup, that's Kyle for you," the Treecko said, sliding the vegetables into a steaming pan that was on the stove. She began to stir it.

"But… he's a Pikachu. And you're a Treecko!" He said, not understanding. Kristal continued to prepare the meal.

"Uh-huh…"

"That doesn't work out!" Kristal turned around, looking at Harver for a few seconds.

"Well, when you think about it, does anything truly make sense?" Harver thought about this as Kristal began to tie up the loose ends on the dinner she was preparing.

"No, now that I think about it," he said, as Kristal began to set down two plates at the table. Kristal smirked.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you," She said, sitting down at the table. Harver did the same. "I don't really know how it all happened, actually. Kyle never really told me what happened, and whenever I'd ask him, he'd always answer with, 'I'll tell you when you're older'." She chuckled. "I wonder what he means by that."

_Me, too. _Harver thought. "Thank you," he briefly said before they began to eat their meals. "School starts in three weeks for me," Kristal said between bites. "I'm dreading it. I assume you'll be going to school as well?" Harver stopped eating.

"You know… I hadn't really thought about that," he said. "I had always assumed that I'd go to work, and that's be it, but now that you mention it…" Kristal smiled.

"Well, since Rendar is the capital of the southwest region of the continent," she began, setting down her fork, "there are plenty of schools around here. I'm pretty sure there are three; maybe four." Schools in the Pokemon world work slightly different than our schools. Classes are mainly the same, such as Mathematics, Science, and History; but the way they work is not the same. For some classes, for instance, the genders are split up. This happens mainly in Science and Physical Education.

Another distinct thing is the age barrier. In our world, we usually have Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and then College. In the Pokemon world, there are three different levels of school; however, they have nothing to do with age. It's mainly about how smart a student is. They first take a placement test, and then their previous years' scores are looked over to determine which class they get put in. Obviously, it's easier to get a good grade in a lower scored class than in a higher scored class. These classes are known as A, B, and C. However, it is possible for a student to be in a B class and a C class. It depends on the student's strengths and weaknesses.

"I go to Rendar Private," Kristal told Harver. "It's the more fancy of the three schools here. Only about three hundred Pokemon get in each year, and it only teaches A and B classes. Kyle insists that I have to get a good education, even if it does mean that he has to pay the tuition."

"Tuition?" Harver questioned.

"Yeah, the amount of money you have to pay to attend," Kristal stated. Harver thought about this, as there were no schools like that from where he had come from.

"How much is it?"

"About eight thousand Poke, for tuition alone," she said. "Add the cost of books and things like that, and you're stuck at about eleven thousand." Harver whistled.

"That's a lot."

"Well, Kyle's a doctor, so he brings home a lot of money. For us, it's nothing much." Harver frowned.

"I see."

"Although," Kristal replied, thinking, "I think there are a few scholarships that students can apply for who can't cover tuition. I've heard they're very hard to get, though." Harver smiled.

"I'll apply for one of them," he said. "I hope I can make it. What do you have to do?"

"Well, for a few of them you have to write an essay, while in others you have to take a test or two. There are also really large ones that cover three years, but you have to take three tests and an essay. You can only obtain it if you score a ninety or higher on all of them; and there are still the others who might have done better than you." Harver leaned back in his chair.

"That's going to be tough," he said, frowning. "I'm going to have to study hard if I want to make it. When are the tests for the scholarships?"

"I'm pretty sure they take place in about five days," Kristal said, picking up her plate. "You might want to check with the school about that, though." She walked over to Harver and picked up his plate, which was empty. "By the way, did you go to school back in your town?" Harver frowned.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it school," he said as Kristal walked over to the sink, and put the dishes in it. "See, the people at the directory in our town would assign a section of a few text books for us, and we'd come back in a few weeks and be tested on the material we learned."

"How did you do?" Kristal asked.

Harver smiled. "I don't remember ever getting anything lower than a ninety. So I suppose I'm in pretty good shape for the scholarship, am I right?"

_Three weeks later…_

Harver examined the long sleeve, white shirt he had on through a full body mirror in his room in the Starlas' house. He slightly adjusted the solid red tie he had on, and the short, navy blue pants he had below. A folded blue jacket lay on his bed; he didn't need to wear it that day, since it wasn't really cold.

Naturally, Pokemon do not have a need to wear clothes; however, they do want to make themselves look presentable in public, and the school Harver and Kristal were going to was one of the top schools in the nation. They had to maintain a nice outlook.

Harver looked out of his window. The sun was just beginning to rise over the crystal blue horizon. _It wasn't easy, getting the scholarship… _He thought, reflecting on the experience. _In the end, I had to split it with another Pokemon; we both had the same exact scores overall. The only difference was that I had scored five more points than him in the mathematics portion of the entrance exam. He scored five points more than me in the vocabulary portion, though. _

The Chimchar examined a few orange colored leaves as they flew in front of his window, floating on the gentle breeze in the cool, Autumn air. Harver heard a knock on his door which disrupted him from his early daydream. He walked across the room and opened it, seeing Kristal in front of him. She wore a white shirt like Harver had on, but she also had a black and white striped skirt on. The skirt dropped down to just below her knees. "You ready to go?" She simply asked. Harver smirked back.

"Let's go."


	3. III: Chapter Three

_The dimly lit diner was surprisingly bustling with activity. Waiters were traveling from the kitchen and back madly, surprised at how many customers there were that day. To one onlooker sitting in a corner booth, none of it really mattered. He was simply waiting for someone he knew. He took a glance down at his watch. One o' two, he thought, just as a Squirtle sat down across from him._

"_You're late," He said, frowning deeply. The Squirtle tensed up slightly._

"_Sorry, boss," He said sheepishly. "There was a slight holdup on the job, and-"_

_"Never mind that," The Pokemon said, not wanting to go through all of the details. "I'm glad you got through the job, nonetheless.""I just came here for my pay…" The Pokemon sighed as he reached inside his jacket pocket, pulling out a few thousand Poke. He set it on the table, but as the Squirtle tried to grab the money, the other Pokemon slammed his hand down on it. "Not so fast," He said. "I have another job for you, and it's very important. I'll even pay you triple this amount." The Squirtle shook his head. He never liked the sound of an important job. It always made it sound intimidating, which would make it so that he would get nervous, and probably screw up the entire operation._

"_And if I say no?" He asked. He instantly tensed up as he felt something cold and hollow pressed against his stomach from under the table._

"_Let's not go into the details," The other Pokemon said, grinning maliciously. The Squirtle sighed._

"_I'm listening," He said, defeated at gunpoint._

"_Like I said, this operation is important. You'll have to go undercover as a high school student at a school I'm currently attending…"_

**Chapter Three**

Harver sighed as he walked through the halls of the school. There were many different Pokemon there, but they all had one thing in common; they all wanted to be the best. Even though class hadn't officially begun yet, tension was in the air as he opened his locker, grabbing a few extra materials he thought he might need. He then made his way over to room A13. Homeroom. As he walked into the room, he was relieved to see Kristal sitting in a desk in the front row. He was glad he had at least one class with her; he felt as if he needed someone he knew near him for the first few days. He sighed while closing the door behind him, and decided to take a quick observation of the classroom. Also in the room were a female Charmander looking into a handheld mirror, a Riolu talking to a Cubone happily, a Squirtle who was twiddling his thumbs nervously, and a Machop in the back corner of the room. Harver took a seat behind Kristal, which was next to the Squirtle and Charmander. _Could this be all in this class? _He thought. His train of thought was soon broken as the Charmander next to him smiled at him.

"Hi, I'm Amelia," She said, proudly. Harver smiled back.

"Harver Rose," He said, giving his own name in reply. This made Amelia gasp.

"So you're the one who tied for the scholarship!" She exclaimed, which brought the attention of everyone in the room to them. Harver sat in his chair awkwardly.

"Well… yeah," He said, not sure what to think. "How did you know?" Amelia scoffed in reply.

"Everyone knows," She said, holding out two of her claw pointed fingers. "One, it's the hardest scholarship to acquire here. Two, it's the first time it's been given to two people!" Harver gasped. The Machop in the corner of the room stood up and began to walk towards the two.

"I never knew what a big deal it was," Harver said. "Do you know who the other one is who got the scholarship?" Amelia was about to reply when she was cut off by the Machop.

"That would be me," He said without interest. "I'm James Smith." Without another word he walked back to his seat. The Cubone groaned in disgust, who was sitting behind Harver.

"That guy gives me the creeps," He said, giving his hand out to Harver for him to shake. "Spike's the name." Harver smiled back, shaking his outstretched hand. The Riolu Spike had been talking to earlier decided to join the conversation.

"I'm Lucas," He said, smiling. His voice was slightly higher than the others', showing that he was a little bit younger than the others. Harver turned his attention to him.

"Nice to meet you both," He replied. Harver then looked over at the Squirtle, noticing that he hadn't said anything during the time he was there. "What about you?" He seemed to tense up slightly at being talked to, but he dispelled it quickly.

"I'm Mori," He said, trying to act a little less shy than he usually was. Harver nodded in recognition, then relaxed himself in his seat. The door to the classroom swung open abruptly and the whole room turned silent. An Alakazam stepped into the room and quickly closed the door behind him. As if on cue, the sharp ring of a bell sounded out through the entire school, saying that class was officially started. The Alakzam walked slowly but proudly to the center-front of the classroom, directly in front of a chalkboard. He studied each of the students with his eyes, as if already giving them a grade for the semester. "Who can tell me," He said with a deep voice, "why you're here today?" Half of the class raised their hands. The Alakazam chose on Amelia.

"Because, Professor Alex," She began, standing up, "we have proven ourselves superior to the others in the school with our consecutive grades and exemplary test results. We have shown that we deserve to be in the top class in school." Professor Alex chuckled.

"Partly correct," He said, with a smile on his face. "Unfortunately, simply flashing 'exemplary'" - He air quoted, "vocabulary in my class won't make you shine out for the better." Spike and Lucas chucked in the back of the small class. "What about you, Mister Spike?" He asked. Spike stopped laughing, but kept the smile on his face.

"Because," Spike said, not bothering to stand up, "there was one spot open in the top class in this school. I didn't really care about it, but since Lucas gave you a recommendation for me, AND because I've had straight A's since I was twelve-""Which doesn't count for much unless you're serious for the work you put in," Prof. Alex stated, cutting Spike off abruptly. "Correct, more or less. I'm still waiting for someone to deliver the answer completely." Harver raised his hand cautiously. Alex nodded in his direction.

"Um…" He began, obviously not off to a good start, "We've applied ourselves hardly throughout the time in which we've been taking quizzes, and doing homework…" He stopped for a second, trying to gather his thoughts. All eyes in the room were on him. "…Meaning, basically, our entire lives. We've wanted to get here someday for some reason or another, and since we tapped into our unseen potential, we were able to get here."

"What differs your answer from Amelia's?" Prof. Alex asked.

"Well," He gave a cautious look at Amelia, and continued, "Amelia stated that we proved ourselves that we were superior. In actuality, we're pretty much all equal beings." Prof. Alex raise an eyebrow in this. "We all have that unseen potential. It's a matter of tapping into it or not." The room remained silent for a few moments, Prof. Alex inspecting Harver all the while.

"What's your name, son?" Prof. Alex asked, making it obvious that he didn't know who he was.

"Harver Rose, sir," The Chimchar said, quickly correcting his mistake, "I mean, professor." The professor smiled down at him.

"To think I've never seen you before…" Harver was about to tell him that he was relatively new to the city, but the Alakazam continued to speak. "Not quite the answer I was looking for, Master Harver, but an answer nonetheless. And more than that; the form of answer I was looking for." Harver smiled back.

"Now, if you'll all turn to page sixteen of your textbooks, we can begin today's lesson."

--

Gina sighed as she sat alone in the Resting Room of the hospital. The small room contained a few tables and a TV towards the front of the room. She didn't really have to be there that day; she just felt like she should. She was surprised when the door opened up and Kyle stepped in. She smiled. "Oh, hi," She said, trying to act casual. Kyle smiled back.

"Hey," He replied, a little surprised as well. The Pikachu walked over to Gina, and sat down next to her. "Are you sure you should be here today? After all, it is your birthday." Her smile grew.

"So, you remembered?" She asked. Kyle nodded, reaching inside his jacket pocket. He pulled out a small, blue velvet case, and handed it to Gina. She opened it to find a necklace with a small diamond on the end attached to a silver chain. She gasped. "Kyle, thank you."

"Just a little-" Kyle was caught off guard when she leaned forward and embraced him.

"Thanks, so much," She said, leaning away from Kyle. "This is the nicest thing anyone's given me. You're too sweet." Kyle blushed slightly, but hid it quickly by changing the subject.

"Are you free this evening?" He asked her, hoping she would reply in his favor. She nodded. "Because… I was wondering if you'd… like to go out to dinner with me." Her face lost most of its color.

"Like… a date?" Gina asked, dumbfounded. Kyle nodded hesitantly. "Oh, sure. I'd love to." She said. Kyle grinned.

"Great," He said, standing up. "I'll come over to your house around six." He slowly walked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Gina almost leaped up with excitement. She did her best to contain herself. _He likes me!_ She thought ecstatically.

Meanwhile, Kyle was leaning against a hallway wall. He breathed a sigh of relief. _That was easier than I thought it would be._

_--_

Harver sighed as he trudged outside of the school building with his book bag slung over his shoulder. He turned around and looked up at it, smiling to himself. The structure in itself wasn't what amazed him; it was the fact that the school was all indoors, and how much could be fit inside of it. He began to walk again when a familiar Treecko came up to him. "So, how was your day?" Kristal asked.

"Well, it was alright," The Chimchar replied. Kristal scoffed.

"You answered one of Professor Alex's most preemptive questions I've ever seen him give without breaking a sweat," She said, hitting his shoulder playfully. "You call that 'alright'?"

"So he gives out those questions out on a regular basis?" He asked, slyly changing the subject. Kristal was about to reply, but Harver stopped walking. Kristal looked at him, curious. "We're being followed," He whispered, trying to not move a muscle.

"So, you're tracking skills are good," A voice from behind them said. Both Kristal and Harver whirled around. "No wonder you tied with me for the scholarship," The Machop said, leaning against a tree whose leaves were beginning to golden. "That was some pretty impressive stuff back there." He began to walk towards them. "But just to let you know, I've been at this school much longer than you. Don't think you can just come in here and knock me off like I'm nothing more than a normal student."

"I meant what I said back in class," Harver stated. "I believe we are all equals."

"Sure, we might be equals," James said, stepping up to the Chimchar, "on the outside. But on the inside, there is one thing that separates us." Just as Harver was about to ask what that something was, the Machop walked past them both, continuing on his way back to his house.

"What's his problem?" A new voice asked. Both Spike and Lucas stepped out from behind another tree. "I don't like that guy at all," Spike said, frowning. Kristal nodded in agreement.

"There's no need for him to try to act all high and mighty," Lucas said as the three began to engage in a conversation. Harver was thinking on his own, however. _Something about him… it's out of place, but I can't quite put my finger on it. He seems so familiar, but I know I've never seen him before…_

"Hey, Harver!" Kristal called out, breaking Harver's train of thought. He looked up to see that they had already begun walking again. Harver sprinted back to keep up, and then began to walk at a leisurely pace as the others continued their conversation. _I'll think about it later_, he concluded.


End file.
